Royal Legislative Decree and Decree-Law

In democratic countries, laws are enacted by national parliaments. However, there are some exceptions to this rule general. If we take as a reference the legislation and the Constitution Spanish, the Royal Legislative Decree and the Decree law are two types of law that are promoted by the executive power.

The distinction between the two laws

The Royal Legislative Decree is regulated in the Spanish Constitution and is approved by the government of the nation because the legislative power It authorizes him to do so and specifies him on what subject should be done and with what guidelines.

It is launched by delegation to the government and is expressly granted for a specific matter, establishing a specific term, because after that, said rule will expire.

This type of law is a re-foundation of a set of laws in force

Its purpose is to present a more specific standard with greater operational capacity. Thus, each Legislative Royal Decree is presented indicating what other text it comes from. These decrees can be issued both by the central executive power and by the governments of the autonomous communities. The term Royal in this legal norm indicates that it is the king who sanctions this law and who orders its compliance.

The Decree-Law is a norm that is conceived to face extraordinary or urgent situations and is promulgated by the initiative of the executive power.

Normally, the Decree-Law has a provisional character and, on the other hand, cannot contradict the legal norms of the state nor go against the rights and duties of citizens established in the Constitution.

To face a situation of emergency due to floods or other natural catastrophes, the government establishes this type of rule and in this way there is a specific legal tool to deal with the needs arising from this type of situation exceptional. For a Decree-law to be fully valid, it must be approved by the Congress of Deputies within 30 days of its promulgation. The Decree-Law can only be authorized by the central government and not by a government of an autonomous community.

The elaboration of the laws in the Spanish Constitution

According to the Constitution, there are organic laws, which are those that are aimed at guaranteeing the fundamental rights and public freedoms of citizens (for example, the right demonstration, meeting, organizing, the electoral regime, etc.). Organic laws must be approved by the Congress of Deputies by an absolute majority.

The rest of the laws are legislative decrees, which include the Royal Legislative Decree and the Decree-law. In both cases, these are legal norms with the force of law and are granted to the executive branch by delegation, that is, the promulgates the executive power but it is the legislative power that has previously delegated to the government so that they can be approved. In other words, the legislative power is the one who makes the laws, but exceptionally the government is granted the power to promote specific legal norms.

Photos: Fotolia - Pio Si / jro-grafik